Kroaxis

Kroaxiss has decided-ah to open an arena for… enntertainnnment. Contenders? Likely anything – but for now-ah we have secured safe passage & trade for rare and exotic creaturesss-ah. (imagine the rest in that voice)

As usual, surrounding towns sent capable warriors and diplomats to solidify the trade route and escort path of such dangerous creatures. During the meeting with Breward Fessek I was able to lock in a 1/3 share of the exotic materials & components from said monstrosities when they perish in the arena.

I knew most of you would be happy about that…. …you’re welcome. {{The truth is most everyone in the room is unsure of how to act around Sheppard – his commanding presence and icy stair is more than a little off-putting}}.

A fighting schedule will be provided early so professors can request specific parts in advance. Tenure of course, gets priority except when overruled by the Dean.

Those of you with other meetings or classes starting are excused, otherwise stay & hear the summary of the challenges we endured… you never know when you will be called to serve in the name of Dexnia and further it’s standing in Kroaxis.
Lubrabrassk, “the council”, spoke with us. Yes, I met it face to face. Quite dangerous what those council members are doing I foresee dangers ahead keeping that Illithid or Alhoon or whatever it is imprisoned in his own mind.

It set us on a task of riddles, puzzles, combat challenges, and battle of wits. Acompanying me was ________ from the prison city _________. _________ our monstrous neighbor from the city _________. And an odd fellow from _________ my home town. He never spoke & if I didn’t know better I’d say he was a flesh golem.

Yes, Yengeon, the very same __________ who used to teach here. Seems he has taken his methods to the riots in ___________.

Our first challenge was a riddle I solved that granted us passage to the next challenge. A pair of great minotaurs. Another challenge I spotted right away & successfully got us to the next challenge. From here on out, the others were instrumental in our success.

In fact, the next room I didn’t help at all as I was immediately incapacitated the others fought hard & overcame an Aboleth.

Another room nearly sent us packing until that crazed _____________ figured it out. He nearly killed himself in the process.

We encountered a gynosphinx & yet again ____________ overcame the riddles.

[[Internal monologue: as crazy as ____________ appears it might not have been the right decision to dishonorably ban him. Out students need to be taught the twisted horrors of our world and shown the effects of fear. They need to overcome & rise above or rightfully be forgotten to the annuals of history]].

The Gynosphinx, unimpressed with out correct answers ambushed us in a later room yet we were victorious.

You would not believe the atrocities I was subject to recently… trudging through the low ground air on dusty roads – more like trails if you ask me – and the ones less traveled at that. How I miss the vapor of the high mountain clouds. Instead we drink water straight from near stagnant pools and ponds! When I came to the university and offered my services of the Arcanum I certainly did not dream I would be put in such uncouth predicaments.

Tasked with speaking to savages!? The nerve… upon my return I am going to have words, WORDS I TELLYOU! I prepared as many prestidigitation spells as possible, even making a couple scrolls for backup.

I wasn’t going to step foot in that barbaric shamble of a camp they call a town, but my ancestral heritage and bravery stirred within and urged me on.

In order to secure the trust and treaty with the mongrels we had to perform a ceremony (barely passable as clownish) which involved drinking from the same basin. Whatever that brackish substance was compelled me and the others I was with – barely adequate as civilized folk themselves – on a “spirit journey”. Mongrels.. yes Mongrelmen, that is what I will call them.

I had to be partly possessed by something supernatural because I certainly wouldn’t have gone inside that cave otherwise; there were horrible fleshy and rotting creatures inside, I could smell it at the mouth of the cave.

We fought our way through courageously. I did everything I could just to keep those beasts from touching me. On more than one occasion I had to summon my most powerful of magics to repel the monstrous attacks but it was a double edges sword as the thunderwaves and whirlwinds slung unwanted dirt on me. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of the grime, spittle, blood, and other bodily excrement that might have gotten close to me… thank you Prestidigitation – I didn’t have to see it.

We eventually came to what must have been the objective of this laughable savage custom. A tremendous beast of a man… or was it bear… bear man who kept shifting and taunting. Oh I think I’m going to be sick just the thought of the sounds it made while transforming and the blood and gore beneath our boots from the wolf corpses. I.. I… need a moment…

…Needless to say we were successful with the Mongrelmens’ test. That’s enough of that. Perhaps the most wondrous of discoveries were made during the jaunt in the wilds. A writing utensil, such a marvelous invention – what it was doing in the hands of degenerates is beyond me – came into my possession through a barter. That prison swine of a drow made a deal to trade the obviously lavish ink pen for the admission of seven of his war casters. I agreed to pay their entrance but their acceptance would be up to their capability. I figured it a safe investment as they are sure to be bumbling apprentices at best and will quickly be expelled through overuse of the arcane art – or lack thereof.

At the end of the journey we spoke to Breward and obtained a magical device to bring back to our respective cities. More on that later, for now – I am experimenting with the powerful eldritch power of this ancient ink pen.

When we arrived at Graddox we were greeted with mild hostility or distrust by everyone except for their spiritual leader, Groat Urzen. Groat was inviting and allowed us to stay in his home for the night. He had suggested that before diplomatic ties could be established that we needed to prove our strength to his clan – so he sent us on a “Vision Quest”. We were to eat herbs and complete the mission we were willed to perform afterward.

We left the morning after being given the herbs to consume and made camp about a half-day west of Graddox at a place they called Great Bear Post. Once we got there we all consumed the herbs, as instructed, and began to hallucinate. This was quite an unsettling feeling but after a while we saw that a cave entrance had opened up in a nearby wall – so we entered.

Once we entered the cave we were attacked by what looked like fiends of some kind but we dispatched them fiercely and swiftly. As we made our way to the end of the cavern we found ourselves in we fought many other things that we handily ended (overall we killed Chain Devils, Skeletons, Basilisks, Tar Wolves, and Zombie Sabers). At the end, and after we killed everything else in the cave that attacked us, we had to fight a rather large spirit creature – a very large Werebear.

We dispatched him with some difficulty and passed out for a while afterward… Once we regained consciousness we realized that we had earned a boon from the completed quest and became tougher just as the Barbarians of Graddox had – something they called Great Bear Umbra.

When we returned to Graddox we were not treated with mistrust or aggression further. We were returned to Groat Urzen and he confirmed that we had indeed proven ourselves. We were even given their Warcheif’s Axe as a token of acceptance – I’m only hoping that Breward Fessik understands its meaning.

After this we returned here with no difficulty on the well traveled roads and, I believe, successfully completed the diplomatic mission to Graddox.